SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Sun Belt Conference Tournament run came to an end on Friday night for the UT Arlington softball team (30-26), falling to the ULM Warhawks 5-2 in the elimination bracket.
 
The Mavericks finished with nine hits on the day, led by senior Laura Curry's 3-for-4 effort.  Aileen Garcia also had a multi-hit day, going 2-for-3 at the plate with one RBI.
 
"ULM played a great game and came fired up from the start," Head Coach Peejay Brun said. "Their pitcher did a fabulous job making sure we didn't tie too many hits together."
 
Three pitchers combined in the loss for the Mavericks.  JoJo Valencia started in the circle and allowed one run off three hits in one inning.  Randi Phillips replaced Valencia in the second inning, tossing 3.1 innings, while allowing three runs off three hits.  Allie Gardiner pitched the final 1.2 innings, allowing one run off one hit.
 
Monroe got the scoring going in the first inning, using a two-out rally to score.  Two singles put runners on second and third before another single found its way to left field to score the first run.
 
The Mavericks quickly responded in the top of the second. KJ Murphy led off with a double to the left field wall. On the next pitch, Shelbi Court single through the left side, driving in Murphy from second to tie the game at one.
 
The tie would only last an inning, however, as the Warhawks used a three-run third inning to take a lead they would not relinquish. Back-to-back singles to start the inning put runners on first and second before ULM connected on a three-run home run to take a 5-1 lead.
 
The Mavericks would manage just three baserunners over the next three inning as they tried to fight back into the game.  In the seventh inning, however, the Mavs appeared to be gaining momentum.
 
Following a pop up to second base, three straight Mavericks loaded the bases with just one out on the board.  Aileen Garcia connected on a single to third base, beating out the throw, to score one run and keep the bases loaded. That would be all UTA could muster in the end, leaving the bases loaded with back-to-back outs, falling 5-2.
 
"Our players did well this tournament and played with everything they had," said Brun.